1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus which performs document processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a document management system, a document is generated using a stored template.
In this case, a user generates a document by specifying a desired template from among stored templates, and arranging photos and text information on the document.
In addition, an application used to generate a document using stored objects, such as photographs and text information, has been used. In this case, the user has to specify information to be arranged and a frame in the template in which the information is arranged using the application. Therefore, a large amount of labor is required for the user in order to finally generate a document.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-203491 discloses a technique of generating a template by performing block dividing processing on an original (hereinafter referred to as a template original) which is to be determined as a template by a user, i.e., image data obtained by scanning or document data electrically generated.
Specifically, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-203491 discloses a technique of obtaining attributes, such as text, a table, and a graphic, for example, of divided blocks, and storing the blocks and the attributes as a template.
Furthermore, as another known example of a technique of generating a document using a template, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-155181 discloses a technique of automatically extracting a template which is suitable for a specific photo image from among a number of templates.
More specifically, a technique of retrieving an appropriate template on the basis of date information is disclosed.
In the document management system configured as described above, there is a demand for generating a useful template as simple as possible.
Therefore, when a template is generated, object frames into which objects obtained from image data obtained by scanning and document data which is electrically generated are to be inserted are preferably extracted with ease, and the object frames are preferably prevented from being manually controlled. Here, the term “object” means a partial image or partial text information extracted from data obtained by scanning, for example, having an attribute assigned thereto. To register objects as described in exemplary embodiments hereinafter, various methods may be employed in addition to a registration by extracting objects from a scanned image.
In the system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-203491, a template which is automatically generated may depend on an input original, and therefore, a format of the template may need to be changed. Specifically, in a case where a small image is coincidentally included in a block in the original and therefore a blank space exists, a template having a large blank space may be generated.
Furthermore, when a template is used, in addition to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-155181, there is a demand for a function having a high usability, such as a function of extracting a template in accordance with objects desired by a user.
Moreover, there is a demand for a function of more freely arranging objects selected by a user in object frames included in a template while information representing each of the frames corresponds to for text, a table, or a graphic is used.